Wheres Ray/Wendy yr 2

Monday, September 30, 2013

Hi all,
The time is getting closer to hitting the road. We decided to stay through next weekend to spend more time with the grandkids and other family.
Also hoping my sisters health keeps improving. She has now been in the hospital over two weeks. Hopefully they can move her to a place for some rehab this week.
So if all goes well we will head out next Monday. Looking forward to getting year number two as fulltime rv'ers under way.
Wednesday had a good meeting with our financial planner. He hadn't worked with a fulltime rv'er but has really been on board with helping us to live our dream.
Thursday we both had Dr. appointments, hopefully good to go until next year.
Friday I was able to get the truck in for hail damage repair. I had incurred this while in Custer and it was not enough to turn in for insurance coverage. Thanks to longtime friend Tom and his son Tim at Classic T in Big Bend they brought in a dent guy and it looks great.
We then took off for the anticipated Halloween Camp out at Indian Trails Campground at Pardeeville, WI.

Carving pumpkins

We have done these for close to twenty years, so it was nice to be here and keep the tradition alive. First it was just the kids but later the adults began getting involved.
Sites get decorated and many people hand out various hallowed brews and shots for the brave adults.

Kids are ready

Part of our group

We got rid of 40# of Mardi Gras beads!!

Colleen & Goyo

Great costume!

The weather started off good and ended great but rain greeted us just as we began the trick or treating. We managed to get the the walk in just a little wet. We always plan a soup meal for after and it was really good as it continued to rain late into the evening.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Had a great time last weekend. Wendy got together with some girlfriends for a fish fry. They stopped in at the old bowling alley for drinks and good laughs.
I spent some time with my brother Rusty. We headed to the local high school football game and also ended at the lanes.
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Swany, Ginny, Janet, Linda, Jill, Beth and Wendy

Saturday we had a nice visit with more longtime friends Beth and Russ. They had bought a beautiful place on Lake Beulah and took us out for a nice cool pontoon ride. Man, fall is really in the air.

Sunday we got up early and drove up north to get in one more visit with Wendy's parents. It was a nice visit and we didn't let the Packer game spoil the time. :(
We stayed the night, then in the morning I got the idea to see if grandson Alex was open for a visit. We had saw him on Labor Day weekend and looked like we may not hook up again. He is attending school in LaCrosse, WI and in his first apartment by himself. We had a great visit and we're glad we could squeeze it in.

Lunch with Alex

Wendy and I each have one more Dr. appointment and a meeting with our financial guy then we are FREE!!!
We don't have a date set that we are leaving but after a Halloween campout with more family and friends there shouldn't be much holding us back.
We did receive good reports on sister Diane's health.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Hi all,
We had a great time with our Excel club the last few days. We met at Grant River Corp of Engineering Park. It is located on the Mississippi River on the WI side near Potosi. It is a very pretty park and if you like trains you would love it. WARNING- you got to really like trains- there is a double set of tracks and a crossing in the park, You can take it from there:)
We did something a bit different and met mid week. I think that was a large success as we had the best turn out in years.
Helping that also was three new Excel owners joining us. We also had a Iowa club member visit.
We arrived Tuesday and after setting up and greetings we headed out to a dinner at the famous Potosi Brewery. Although they now brew in Stevens Point the restaurant is filled with memorabilia from the long history there. We returned for a nice campfire and chatter.

Wednesday we headed across to Balltown, Iowa and had lunch at the oldest family running restaurant. It was a beautiful place and the lunch buffet was great. This is one place that anyone driving in north west Iowa should attend. There is also a awesome view a short walk from the restaurant. Lastly a unique feed store with antiques, dried flowers and just a lot of neat stuff.

Thursday was a yummy donut breakfast and some good byes. Some of the group was staying for another day or two.
After breakfast I got a call from my brother that my sister Diane who was in the hospital was having some heart issues and we booked for (the old) home. She has diabetes and her kidney functions are failing. Very tough but glad we are here for her.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Hello all,
We are still camped at Ottawa State park. Monday will be our 13th day and after we both visit the dentist we plan to hook up and attend our Excel Club Fall outing. It will be at Grant River Corp of Engineering Park near Potosi, WI.
We look forward to meeting back up with the group.
On Friday got a nice visit with our long time neighbors Sharon and John. They had put a beautiful addition on the house and we are glad we don't have to keep up with that (wink). John also filled us in on the latest local news.
We had helped my sister Diane move into a new apartment last week. Wendy and I then spent Thursday helping her unpack and organize. We were glad to be here to help as Diane is having some health issues.
Later Friday afternoon we received a call asking if we could assist taking Diane to the hospital. A blood test result had required her to be admitted. We spent the rest of the day getting her admitted and settled in. We didn't get back home til after 9:00 pm.
I do have a brother and sister that reside here that really go above and beyond in helping take care of my dad and Diane. I am so grateful to them.
We have begun to look at our route to Arizona. We will try and head out in early Oct. spend some time around Missouri and the Ozarks. Any ideas of places we need to see????

Monday, September 9, 2013

Hi all,
We have been enjoying catching up with family and friends. Saturday the company (Metaltek Inc.) that I worked for had a picnic. I had worked there 37 years and was looking forward to seeing some old friends. I also was missing out on all the good gossip that goes on.) The turn out was disappointing as rain was in the forecast. But I did catch up with a few guys and was surprised about a few of new happenings going on.
Saturday night we hooked up with forever friends Jake and Dawn. They had celebrated their 25th anniversary while we were gone and we wanted to treat them to a nice dinner. We went to Texas Roadhouse and had good food and a nice time. We finished the evening playing some cribbage and euchre.
We have the Packer game today and then our sons best friend Mikey is bringing his parents by to talk with us about fulltiming. They bought a fifth wheel and are ready to begin the adventure.

Our schedule had really filled in for our time here, the time will go by fast.
We talked with the volunteer coordinator at Roper lake State Park to get all the details. It all sounds good.
Our main job will be entrance center/ gift shop and light maintenance as time allows. We do 24 hours of service and we both have off the same days.
We will be by a couple other volunteers and have full hook ups. We will be provided shirts and vests and there is no requirement for any certain colored pants.
It is good to have all this figured out and we can now plan our drive there. It is 1700 miles but we have most of October to get there. We should be able to plug in some nice stops along the way.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Hello all,
Hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend. We traveled north to Wilderness County Park north of Necedah WI. It is on the west side of Petenwell Lake. It is the second biggest inland water in WI. Being a flowage the algae bloom can be nasty and create some green soup. It was bad on our first day there but seemed to clear up the next. The wind direction really plays a big part in that. On Sunday some of us did get a swim in.

We had camped here in our early years and Wendy's sister and then her parents bought land nearby. So heading up here was also to spend some time with her parents.
I had mentioned Wendy's parents in a earlier blog but if you missed they are quite the pair. Her mom is 80 and usually goes to bed early around 7:30 but the lady is up at about 12:30 am and begins her day doing puzzles. She will have wash on the line at 6:00 am and is almost always on the go. Many times she will be canning something from there large garden. She does this and never even naps. I always tease Wendy as to when she is going to start doing this.
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Dad, Wendy and Mom

Now her dad is really something. 83 years old and lives to cut firewood. He probably has a couple year supply cut and stacked around the place. He also cuts and sells to some locals and campers.
He is also an avid deer hunter. As I entered his garage I spied a ground tent blind. I thought to myself good, as it will keep him out of the tree stands. I could not have been farther from the truth. Seems he hoisted a pallet 15 feet up a tree, attached some plywood and has mounted the tent on top of that. He does all this with no help. I ventured out with him as he was setting up a trail camera. He also continues to do seasonal work during the cranberry harvest.

We camped with Colleen and her family and Wendy's brother Randy and fiance Lynn. Our grandson Alex also made a trip to see us. He is starting college at a La Crosse area tech school.
The weather was very hot on Fri. to start but turned out to great the rest of the weekend. Good to spend time with family.

Isaiah and Lukas

OK, now for the big news.
We got our winter workamping job in Arizona. We will be at Roper Lake State Park in southeastern Ariz. It is a small park about 155 mi east of Tucson. We will be doing various jobs in the visitor center gift shop, gate house and some light maintenance. This is for Nov. through Jan. We have not been to Arizona so it should give us a new experience and we will get to finally see that big hole in the ground- Grand Canyon.)